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Think of the internet like the Old West. It's vast, there is a lot to explore, and it's relatively lawless. Established societies emerge much the same way iconic Los Angeles and verdant Seattle arose from the early embers of industry and progress. We, the pioneers of social media in all its forms- have the rare opportunity to sculpt our civilizations into places worth putting down roots.

This is not an opportunity we should take lightly. Sometimes a little vigilante watchdogging is needed in order to nurture the bright future of social media. One area in need of regulation is internet trolling. An internet troll is someone who leaves incendiary comments on blog posts, twitter, or another online community. They are like the Butch Cassidy's of the modern age, but they will fade into oblivion without his glory, because we will quell them before they can cause further harm.

A few weeks ago an internet troll visited my food blog, Salty Seattle. This is what they wrote:

“Ya your fuckin bentley is in danger! How would you like me to come to Seattle and take your fuckin Bentley and shove his head down one of your evil, freaky torture devices you use on innocent chickens! Your a fuckin ugly whore who thinks she's hot. Your whoever up there died of a sudden heart attack from those fuckin peanut butter pies and you continue to make them?!!! You see no correlation between the torture on animals you promote, the shit ingredients you use and heart attacks and your ugly looks?! Get the fuck out of the matrix bitch and go kill your self!”

I was stunned and appalled, to say the least. I felt violated just like when my home was broken into a few years ago while my family and I were sleeping. I am no stranger to negative comments- apparently blogging about what I ate for dinner last night is terribly contentious- but this eclipsed the others. Like a sucker punch to the kidney, it deflated my sails.

A couple of months ago, a food blogger I mentor wrote to tell me she
was considering closing down the comment feature on her blog.

“Why,” she asked, “should I continue to accept comments, when only a
few people bother to comment, and most of them don't say anything
except 'nice post', and it's such a miniscule percentage of the people
who read the blog? Does anyone care about comments, really?”

Hmmmm.

“I care,” I replied, promptly and emphatically. And then I had to think
about why: why and how I encourage comments on my own blog, and how to
leave good comments on others.Continue reading →